- vcf-midatlantic - lists.vcfed.org

Slightly OT: Intel Chart on 80s PCs/90s Data Centers
by John Heritage 23 Dec '19

23 Dec '19

Found this interesting chart from Intel showing market share in the 80s for PCs, 90s for Data Centers: https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Intel-Business.jpg Definitely shows Atari, Inc. blew their early lead with the 400/800 by not opening the hardware for developers, or investing in getting the hardware costs down earlier. (Also no thanks to FCC noise requirements that made for a costly computer). There's enough in the 80s section for other conclusions on Apple, Commodore, etc too! The 90s are interesting for a variety of reasons, especially seeing separate graphs for IBM RISC and CISC based server products..

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Warehouse Process
by Adam Michlin 23 Dec '19

23 Dec '19

Hi Everyone, As many of you know, I do a lot of work in maintaining the VCF Warehouse at InfoAge in Wall, NJ. I want to address some changes in process in the Warehouse. 1. As you know, we are more frequently varying the "Featured Artifact" in the museum. These changes are by Steering Committee decision (and you, please make suggestions!), not just me, but I store the unused featured artifacts in the Warehouse. We had a Canon Cat on display, we now have a BeBox on display and I am pleased to share that the Canon Cat is now safely stored in a double sealed plastic container in the Warehouse and the BeBox also has an equivalent plastic container. All featured artifacts will be stored in this manner for safety, cleanliness, and ease of more frequent rotation. 2. Going forward, if you donate an item that can fit in a reasonably sized plastic container, we will provide one. If you donate an IBM/360 (please!), we make no promises about plastic containers but are looking at other solutions. 3. There will be a new policy for checking out items from the Warehouse to work on them. Please understand, we are not able to just hand out anything to anyone, but there will be a process in place to request items and the decision will be made by the Steering Committee (again, not just me). Related to point 2, if you clean one of VCF's computers, it will be put back in the warehouse in a *sealed* container (big iron not necessarily included). The inaugural item for this new policy is our Atari MEGA STe which has been checked out for repair by member Bill Lange. Speaking of which, does anyone have a keyboard for said Atari they want to donate to us? We hope it will be a very near future Featured Artifact when we get it working! 4. Remember that Canon Cat? It will shortly be going on loan for display by mutual agreement at Bill Degnan’s Kennett Classic Vintage Computer Gallery <https://www.kennettclassic.com/> in Kennett Square, PA. Any organization will now be able to request a loan of an artifact for display and all loans will be assessed and approved by Steering Committee vote. It is our goal to get the amazing artifacts in the Warehouse out for public viewing in both our museum and other locations. 5. We are working on plastic bins in the Warehouse to both organize and protect artifacts and will be shortly asking for assistance in various sections to make this a reality. The Apple section is almost complete thanks in large part to the assistance of Tony Bogan. We will also be assessing all artifacts including removing any previously missed dreaded batteries as necessary as part of this process. Any and all suggestions about the Warehouse can be sent to me and/or the entire Steering Committee. Best wishes, -Adam adam.michlin(a)vcfed.org amichlin(a)swerlin.com amichlin(a)gmail.com

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Dessicant (was Warehouse Process)
by William Dudley 23 Dec '19

23 Dec '19

Dollar Tree sells small tubs of desiccant. They are approximately 3.5 x 3.5 x 6 inches. $1 each, obviously. Bill Dudley This email is free of malware because I run Linux. On Sun, Dec 22, 2019 at 7:12 PM Adam Michlin via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > Hi Gordon, > > We are experimenting with two different types of containers. . . . We also place a desiccant in each container for moisture and expect to replace these on a regular basis. > > > >

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Warehouse Process
by gsteemso 23 Dec '19

23 Dec '19

Hi all, Although I'm not expecting to be able to visit in person any time soon, I've been avidly following the evolution of your bricks-&-mortar museum. (There are always things only learnable by someone actually doing them, and in that respect your collective efforts may be even more important to our field than any of you expected.) Achieving closed storage for every individual system (artefact?) is a great objective for all of us, museum curators or otherwise. (Besides the usual tendency many of us share to acquire long-neglected, dusty and/or wildlife-befouled hardware, I work in fire & flood restoration. I can say with 100% certainty that if anything gets _on_ an object, particularly an older one, it's normally a serious challenge to get that thing entirely _off_ again in a fully non-destructive manner.) With that in mind, I'm very interested in the details of your planned program of storage in plastic cases. Identifying and sourcing appropriate containers is in no way a trivial project! Making plastic involves chemical softening agents called plasticizers. As some of us have learned the hard way, in the long term plasticizers will migrate out of the finished material -- escaping as gasses or, in especially problematic cases, forming greasy beads on the surface. The most well-known and graphic example of the havoc which can be wrought upon historical artefacts by decomposed plastic was discovered by antique-doll collectors, when very old self-blinking specimens appeared to gradually start crying blood. It was eventually found to be a reaction of the escaping plasticizers with the metal pivots in the eyes, which invariably terminates with the horrifying spectacle of the doll's head rotting in on itself entirely. I personally have found that well-sealed containers of computer stuff -- such as, most memorably, a big jar of surplus ADB Macintosh mice and random smaller items that I'd stashed away -- tend to develop a distinctive plasticky odour after only a few years. In the case of that jar of mice, the stored items had also undergone a slight but noticeable change of _texture_. It was difficult to characterize, but all of the synthetic materials felt less smooth-surfaced -- less "finished," somehow -- and the flexible parts such as cables seemed a bit stiffer, and made extremely faint crunchy noises when manipulated. Because of how problematically plastics can behave over the longer term, I'm very interested in what specific material(s) you plan to use. It's a complex balance between the cost of a given variety of plastic, its long-term stability in general, and the probability that any outgassed plasticizers will react chemically with whatever items are actually stored in the container. I am also curious as to whether and how the artefacts will be padded within the containers. Under normal circumstances, a storage box remains motionless until accessed -- but over a span measured in years, some sort of disruption is more likely than not. Anything from a minor rearrangement of furniture, to relocating the entire storage area, to an actual landslide can cause the box to be dropped, and finding out after the fact that the contents had merely been _placed_ within rather than securely _packed_ is not a pleasant experience. Sincerely, Gordon S.

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Warehouse Process
by W2HX 23 Dec '19

23 Dec '19

Let me also suggest that for big items (or even huge ones) to go out and buy a crap-load of large, dirt cheap bedsheets (not fitted). Throw them over the equipment. Much of the dirt/grime/dust that gathers on this stuff settles from out of the air onto the top of the equipment. A simple gesture of covering with a bedsheet will keep them much cleaner. And you can always run a wash at the local laundromat when the sheets get too filthy. But I suggest this gets done otherwise the big stuff will need to be cleaned more frequently (and the cleaning has some risk too). Just a suggestion 73 Eugene W2HX From: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic-bounces(a)lists.vcfed.org> On Behalf Of Adam Michlin via vcf-midatlantic Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2019 7:12 PM To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> Cc: Adam Michlin <amichlin(a)swerlin.com>; gsteemso <48bitsorbust(a)gmail.com> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Warehouse Process

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Museum Report 2019-12-22 December 22, 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Dec '19

22 Dec '19

A steady stream of visitors due to the last day of the Holiday Model Train show. Some high interested visitors mixed in with the many casual visitors. A good day overall. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Re: [vcf-midatlantic] Regarding Evan Koblentz and VCFed
by John Heritage 22 Dec '19

22 Dec '19

I would donate for an in-museum plaque or something acknowledging the founder of VCF.. I also like the idea Ben has below. On Sun, Dec 22, 2019 at 7:12 AM Ben Greenfield via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic(a)lists.vcfed.org> wrote: > > I would like to see the Board acknowledge Evans foundational work by some > sort of substantial naming, such as naming the archive to this date after > him. > > > Ben > >

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Hanukkah Sameach!
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Dec '19

22 Dec '19

To all my vintage computer friends who are Jewish: Happy Hanukkah! *Chag Urim Sameach!* I wish you all a happy time with family and friends. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Museum Report 2019-12-21 December 21, 2019
by Jeffrey Brace 22 Dec '19

22 Dec '19

Got to the museum at 12:30pm. I was a little late because I had to teach Taekwondo today and there were no other docents available. A visitor came about a minute later with high interest, so I gave him an extended tour. The day was filled with a steady stream of visitors due to the Model Train Holiday show at InfoAge. Most were casual visitors with children who were mostly interested in games, etc. Mouse came to help Martin to string network wire in the 9010-A section (where the museum is). They worked for about 5 hours to wire the 9010-B and 9010-A sections. Thanks Mouse and Martin! The physical wiring is done with some networking hardware and software configuration needing to be done next. VCF will soon have hard wire access to the internet and not have to rely on Mobile Citizen for internet access. I also tried out new bottoms for the stools in the museum. We have caster wheels which we felt were dangerous to child visitors because they could easily fall when the stools moved suddenly. The new casters are flat instead of wheels. We are trying it with one stool to see how it goes. -- ========================================= Jeff Brace Vice President Vintage Computer Federation

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Dialup, was Museum Report
by David Gesswein 22 Dec '19

22 Dec '19

On Sun, Dec 22, 2019 at 08:08:23AM -0500, Tony Bogan via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > > As to other work, Evan and others have been planning a dialup bbs setup in the museum with multiple machines able to ???dial in??? to it, but it never seemed to get beyond the planning stages for a variety of reasons. We plan to build from that foundation and get those system up in the near future as well. > As to networking other machines, as Martin pointed out there is some capability already in place with one of the routers but Andy and others have already talked about other networking possibilities. > I was going to ask about what the plans for dialup were. For the museum 3b1 I was going to bring the "final" disk image to the next workshop. One of its somewhat unusual features was a built in modem. May have had something do do with AT&T selling it. Dialup was common for early unix networking. The 3b1 could demonstrate some of that. Could show uucp file transfer, its The Store! where you could download and install software, email, Usenet etc. It can also call into BBS or into other computers. I assumed dialup won't be done in a short time frame so wasn't planning to configure this now. I can update the image when dialup is supported and its capabilites are known or if planning gets far enough add support to the image I'm setting up.

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